‘Iran secretly bought facial recognition software from Russia’

Iranian authorities secretly purchased Russian facial recognition software in recent years to monitor Iranian citizens. The software, called FindFace, was used, among other things, to spy on and prosecute opposition activists and journalists, and to track down unveiled women. This is evident research published this weekbased on leaked documents, from the Forbidden Stories platform in collaboration with, among others Le Monde, Der Spiegel and ZDF.

FindFace was developed by the Russian company NtechLabspecialized in recognition systems and affiliated with the Russian state-owned company Rostec. According to the journalists, an Iranian company called Rasadco bought the technology from the Russians in 2019. Rasadco was later acquired by the larger Kama company, led by an unnamed member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Kama in turn sold the software to various Iranian entities, which served as a front for the regime in Tehran.

Iranians have feared the many facial recognition cameras on the streets of their country for years. In 2022, the government announced increased surveillance, especially to check women’s clothing during and after major demonstrations in response to the death of Iranian Mahsa Amini (who was arrested for not wearing a hijab and later died at the police station). In late 2023, writes Forbidden Stories, an Iranian journalist drew attention to the use of facial recognition in the country’s subways. Last year, the UN Mission to Iran condemned the regime’s use of facial recognition.

Widely branched system

It is not very surprising that Iran purchased the software from its ally Russia. In recent years, the Kremlin has set up a widespread facial recognition system with tens of thousands of cameras in public spaces. In 2021, Moscow also installed the infamous FacePay in the metro. Presented as a ‘convenient’ system for paying with your face, it soon became clear that it was connected to the investigation services. NtechLab claims to be able to recognize faces with a certainty of 98 percent based on an extensive database.

NtechLab was founded in 2015 and won a competition in the United States in 2017. In 2018, technology and defense conglomerate Rostec bought a stake, after which 150,000 cameras were connected on the streets and in stations, at airports and in subways. Due to its role in facilitating “serious human rights violations using advanced technology,” NtechLab ended up on Western sanctions lists in 2023. According to Reuters, the founders left the company earlier, out of dissatisfaction with the way their technology is used to track down opponents of the Russian regime.

Zoom in

Deadly attack

The Bulgarian researcher Christo Grozev, affiliated with Der Spiegel and the Russian news site TheInsidersaid on Thursday in an interview with the independent (Amsterdam-based) TV channel Dozhd, that delegations of Russian intelligence services FSB (domestic) and GRU (military) have regularly visited Iran in recent years. Among them is FSB General Sergei Beseda, who was closely involved in the invasion of Ukraine from the start and was part of negotiations in Saudi Arabia last year. In addition, the GRU General Andrei Averjanov, who was murdered last year, is said to have regularly visited Iran. Members of the 16th FSB department, responsible for surveillance, were also present.

The fact that the Iranian regime monitors its streets on a large scale became painfully clear last week with the deadly attack by Israel on the Iranian Ayatollah Khamenei. Monday reported the Financial Times that Israel’s Mossad had succeeded years ago in hacking Tehran’s traffic cameras, allowing them to track every movement in the city. “We know Tehran as we know Jerusalem,” an Israeli intelligence official said FT.

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